The Royal Mask

Chapter 45

Warning: This Chapter Contains Mature Content!

{  O P H E L I A  }

"The royals are messed up, Ophelia! My life is so fucking messed up. You don't deserve to be pulled into this shit." He says turning his back to me.

"What happened is not your fault, Nate. And you have the cure now..." I abruptly stop speaking when he turns to look at me his eyes back to steely grey.

"I can't...not when the cure involves me marking and losing you."

"What...what do you mean?"

I remember Cadence’s words but I press my lips into thin lines waiting for him to explain.

He doesn't answer, his jaw clenched hard and my wolf can feel his distress.

"You...you said... you can't mark me until you have turned into your lycan." I state.

"I thought so too. But it wasn't the truth. I just discovered that I can mark you when I'm still half lycan and human but there are many risks involved."

"Risks..."

He runs a hand through his hair, "Risk of you getting hurt and both of us ending like Dominic and his mate. When Rosalie used my blood to reveal the cure, it said that when I mark my mate, my lycan becomes free from the spell. And trust me, no matter how much I want to mark you not because of this cure but to complete our mate bond...I can't!"

"B..but you are not Dominic! I don't think we will end up like them if you mark me." I say unsurely moving towards him and he looks at me with sadness in his eyes that makes me wanna cry.

"How can you be so sure?" He asks raising an eyebrow and I narrow my eyes.

"So you are not going to mark me ever because of your stupid theories?"

"Ophelia, even if he is a rogue leader he still has royal lycan blood in him. What if the same happens to us? I told you how this fucking lycan spells are stronger compared to normal ones. What if my mark turns out to be poisonous to you?" He growls making me shudder.

"When Dominic marked his mate shouldn't his spell be broken as per the cure why is he still..."

He interrupts me, "He is under black magic, princess. Because of the powerful black magic he could neither save his mate nor himself. Although my mother has put a spell on me which isn't like his but I can feel my lycan growing stronger every minute when I am near you. Don't you remember the last time when I tried to get close to you, I had to fight with my wolf for control so that he doesn't mark you without my permission or hurt you unknowingly. I'm afraid of my lycan losing control and hurt you instead marking you."

"Is that why you were avoiding because you were afraid you'll mark me?" I look at him, connecting the dots in my mind.

He sighs. "It's not that I didn't love you or I didn't want to mark you or..."

"Or that you love Cadence..." I complete his sentence.

"Wait what? From where did she come in?" He looks at me confused and I roll my eyes.

Nate sighs. "I was just trying to protect you from myself and my past. I've told Rosalie to find some another cure."

"What if there isn't some other cure?"

"There has to be." He mutters.

I sigh. "It's not your fault what Dominic did to everyone, Nate! Stop comparing yourself to him. Though he was once a part of royal pack, he won't hesitate to kill you. He almost killed you today! You...you were lying on the ground and you were bleeding and..."